With the IPL making huge leaps every year and grabbing a large number of eyeballs every match, former India coach Ravi Shastri feels that franchise cricket is the way forward in T20 cricket. The Indian Premier League despite its grueling schedule is a gamechanger in every possible way and is thoroughly followed not only in India but all across the globe. India was late to embrace the shortest format of the game, but after the introduction of IPL, things changed pretty quickly. Former international cricketers and legends like Michael Holding & Bishen Singh Bedi have been heavy critics of the tournament and the format, but Ravi Shastri does not share their opinion.
Test cricket is the purest and the toughest format of the game, but when it comes to the more engaging form of cricket, nothing comes close to the T20 format feels Ravi Shastri. With the inception of smaller leagues such as the BPL, PSL, and LPL, cricketers from all around the globe have been playing for different franchises at different points in time. Ravi further adds that countries should have a go at each other in this slam-bang style of cricket only in world cups. He further cited soccer calendars for reference and says it is a blueprint that should be followed by T20 cricket, more franchise oriented and very less country oriented.
The former India coach, who has a reputation for not mincing his words further adds "It should go the football way, where, in T20 cricket, you just play the World Cup. Bilateral tournaments, no one remembers". He further adds that he doesn't remember even one bilateral T20 game from his stint barring the world cup". Sharing Ravi Shastri's opinion, former cricketer now turned commentator Akash Chopra said "I see two IPLs happening every calendar year, and that day is not far away".
As India takes on South Africa on June 9, it will be a litmus test on how many eyeballs bilaterals can grab as compared to the star-studded Indian Premier League.
(Inputs from PTI)
